Growing your results…
The hardest part of native plant gardening isn't knowing that you should plant natives — it's knowing which natives are actually from your area. A plant labeled "native" at a garden center might be native to a completely different region of the country. A goldenrod native to the Midwest may be genetically mismatched to soils and pollinators in the Mid-Atlantic.
Zip code-based native plant tools solve this. Enter your zip, get a list of plants specifically matched to your location. But there are a few tools, each with different strengths, and knowing how to use them effectively — and what their results actually mean — helps you make better planting decisions.
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Plants and insects co-evolve over thousands of years. A specialist bee in the Carolinas may be adapted to Carolina goldenrod (Solidago odora), not the stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) native to the Midwest. The plants may look similar and both be "native," but the insect relationships are local.
This is particularly important for keystone plants — the 14% of native genera that support 90% of butterfly and moth species (per Dr. Doug Tallamy's research at the University of Delaware). The specific species within each keystone genus that you should plant depends on your ecoregion and location.
Zip code tools get you to the right species, not just the right genus.
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Our Native Plant Finder is the fastest way to find keystone species matched to your zip code. Enter your zip, and you'll see plants filtered to your specific area, with wildlife support data — caterpillar species count, specialist bee count, and which pollinators each plant supports.
You can filter results by:
The directory also links to nurseries in your state that carry each species, so you can go from discovery to purchase without leaving the site.
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The National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder was developed in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and built on Tallamy's research. It covers approximately 4,000 native plant genera supporting over 11,000 Lepidoptera species, sortable by zip code.
Results are ranked by the number of butterfly and moth caterpillar species each plant hosts — so the plants at the top of the list are the highest-impact choices for supporting birds (which depend on caterpillars to feed their young).
Best for: Getting a ranked list of keystone plants by caterpillar support, sorted to your zip.
Limitation: Results are broad — it shows plant genera rather than species, so you still need to identify which specific species in that genus is native to your local area.
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Homegrown National Park uses EPA Level II ecoregions rather than zip codes or state lines, which is more ecologically precise. Enter your zip, find your ecoregion, and browse keystone plants matched to that region's actual ecology — soil, climate, and wildlife relationships.
The HNP tool is particularly useful near state borders or in ecologically complex areas where a single state contains multiple distinct habitats. A gardener in western Maryland (Appalachian Mountains) and one in eastern Maryland (Coastal Plain) should be planting different species — the ecoregion tool captures that distinction; a state-based list doesn't.
Best for: Understanding your ecoregion and finding the most locally appropriate species.
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Both the NWF finder and our directory show wildlife support data for each plant. Here's how to interpret the key numbers:
Caterpillar species count — how many butterfly and moth species can use this plant as a larval host. This is the most important number for supporting birds. A chickadee raising nestlings needs 350–570 caterpillars per nest; an oak tree supporting 500+ caterpillar species is providing the raw material for that.
Specialist bee count — how many native bee species rely exclusively on this plant genus for pollen. A plant with 40+ specialist bees is ecologically irreplaceable for those species.
Generalist support — most keystone plants also support many more generalist species beyond the specialist count. The specialist count is a floor, not a ceiling.
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Philadelphia sits in the Eastern Temperate Forests ecoregion (Level I) and the Mixed Wood Plains ecoregion (Level II). Top keystone plants for this zip code include:
Starting with any of these five generates significant ecological return from a small space.
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Planting the genus, not the right species. If the tool recommends Prunus (cherries), that doesn't mean ornamental Bradford pear (P. calleryana, a non-native invasive) qualifies. You need a native cherry species matched to your region: black cherry in the East, bitter cherry in the West, chokecherry across the Midwest.
Ignoring site conditions. A plant native to your zip code but planted in the wrong light or moisture conditions will fail. A swamp white oak (Q. bicolor) is native to the Mid-Atlantic but wants wet feet; it won't thrive in a dry upland site. Filter results by your actual conditions, not just your location.
Buying non-local ecotypes. Native plant species can span large geographic ranges, but populations from different parts of that range may be genetically distinct and locally adapted. If possible, source plants grown from seed collected within 100–200 miles of your garden. Ask nurseries about their seed provenance.
Treating the list as a shopping list, not an ecosystem. Native plant finders show individual species, but plants function as communities. Aim to establish groups of species that bloom in succession, offer different plant structures, and complement each other ecologically — not a random assortment of individual keystone plants.
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Once you've found your keystone plants by zip code, our directory lets you:
Use the Native Plant Finder to start building your list.